The Hardest Part Is Falling
by WhispersoftheWhiteWolf
Summary: Baralai goes missing and everyone thinks he's a traitor. Can Paine figure out what really happened to him before it's too late?
1. Gut Feeling

**A/N: **This is my first fanfic ever so if I make any noob mistakes just deal with it, I'm new.

**Basic plot: **Baralai goes missing suddenly and everyone thinks that he's just too overwhelmed with Praetor duties and decided to take a break so nobody is too worried about him, except Paine of course who knows him better and knows deep in her gut that something is not right.

I'm not that great with summaries, something else you're just going to have to bare with. Oh and this is in Paine's POV.

**Disclaimer: I do not own FFX-2 or any other FF game. That would just be wishful thinking.**

_Must not hurt Rikku, must not hurt Rikku, must not hurt Rikku. _I kept saying this in my head over and over trying my best to keep my anger controlled but she really wasn't making it any easier.

"Come on Paine, you got to have some ideas." Rikku said in a whiny, pleading voice.

"For the millionth time, I do not know where he is." I said enunciating every word to make my point clear.

"New Yevon is going crazy without him!" She said getting frustrated at my unhelpfulness.

"Their leader is missing and I understand that but I can't tell you what I don't know." I said repeating the mantra in my head again. Rikku finally gave up on me and left with her hands in the air and saying something in Al-Bhed that I didn't quite catch. I let out a sigh and lay back down on my bed. My peace didn't last very long since Rikku came back with Yuna and Tidus not too long after.

"Oh for the love of..." I muttered to myself.

"If you don't want to tell me then maybe you'll tell one of them." Rikku said as she pushed an apologetic looking Yuna and a confused looking Tidus in front of me.

"What makes you think she going to tell me?" Tidus said turning around but Rikku was already on her way out.

"Don't be mad at her, she means well." Yuna said sitting down next to me on the bed.

"I'm telling you the same thing I told her. I don't know anything." I said glaring at the ceiling.

"I believe you." She said with a smile. Somehow I doubted that but I kept that to myself.

"Anything else?" I asked obviously as an effort to get them to leave.

Yuna shook her head quickly and got up. She grabbed Tidus by the arm and started to walk out.

"I'm sure that he is ok, where ever he is." She said before she walked out.

That was something else that I doubted. Baralai was never one to completely disappear and it bothered me. Everyone in New Yevon thought that he had grown sick of his position and couldn't handle the pressures, leading a lot of them to start thinking of him as a traitor. I knew better, he wasn't quitter and he definitely wasn't a traitor. There had to be something wrong and I was going to figure out what that was.

"Prepare for landing on Besaid." Brother's voice came in loudly through the speakers.

Finally, she would have a chance to get away from all the pep. Maybe she would have a chance to talk with Lulu about this, she was sure to have some thoughts that might be helpful.

"You believe them?" I said surprised. If there was anybody that I thought was going to believe me it was Lulu.

"That he is a traitor no. That he needs a break yes. He works too much." She said as she stopped Vidina from falling off a chair. Hard to believe that he was two years old already.

"So you think he's taking a break?" I said getting up from the chair that I was sitting on.

"Do you think there is something else?" Lulu asked.

"Not sure yet. Thank you anyway." I said slightly defeated. I had expected as much, it is hard to explain a feeling after all.

"You are welcome anytime." She said. I nodded and walked out. At that moment I had no other thought in my mind except that I had to find Baralai and soon.


	2. Dreamland

**A/N: **Well here's chapter two. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to update as quickly again or not but I will honestly try. Please review, I got to know if I'm doing something right.

**Disclaimer: **Once again, I do not own FFX-2. No amount of pixie dust will make that happen.

I wasn't having the best night. It took me forever to fall asleep and when I did it wasn't a peaceful one. It's like the less I tried to think about Baralai the more he would come out in my dreams. If it weren't for Yuna and Rikku sleeping next to me I would've screamed out of frustration. I closed my eyes again and willed myself to go to sleep.

"Why do you keep coming up in my dreams?" I said when I saw him sitting on a rock in the middle of a field which I knew for a fact that I was not really in.

"You tell me. You're the reason I'm here." He said with a small smile.

"What?" I asked confused.

"You're going to have to figure that out on your own." He said as I sat down next to him.

"Just what I needed, more work."

"Well no one said life was easy. You of all people should know that."

"…" He was right, I did know first hand that life wasn't easy but that doesn't mean that I have to like it.

"It's not much of a conversation if you're going to stay quiet."

"I don't have anything to say."

"Oh you have something to say, you're just choosing not to say it."

"…" Does he have to know me so well? He looked at me waiting for me to say something. "Everyone thinks you're a traitor." I said finally.

"Do you?" He asked. I shook my head. "Then I'm ok with that."

"Are you going to tell me where you are?" I asked daring to hope a little.

"I'm in your head. I don't know anymore than you do." He said with a chuckle. I let out a sigh and jerked my head up when I heard Rikku calling me from the distance. "You should probably wake up now."

"Wait…" I never had a chance to finish my sentence since Rikku was shaking me awake.

"What is it?" I asked annoyed.

"You were talking in you're sleep I wanted to make sure you were ok." She said innocently.

"You mean you wanted to hear what I was saying."

"Ed'c hud so vyimd oui dymg eh ouin cmaab." She said backing away from me. I was tempted to do something to her but I was too tired to move so I let it go. Not daring to go back to sleep again I opted for staring out of the window instead. I knew what I had to do and my first stop was going to be Bevelle.

************

So sorry for the short chapters but I promise they will get longer.


	3. Blood Cry

**A/N: **Since it's the weekend and I have finished my paper I have some extra time to update. Yay! Again I ask to please review, it would help me write better and motivated.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own FFX-2 so please don't sue me, you know the drill.

I should've known better. Of course I was going to get bombarded by curious people as soon as I set foot in Bevelle. It was these same curious people that held the belief that me and Baralai were a couple and that I knew every one of his secrets. That is wishful thinking on both accounts.

"You know where he is! He is our leader and we have a right to know!" Yelled one angry Yevonite at me.

"Yeah. Tell us where he is!" Yelled another. Rikku was right, they are going crazy.

"Look I really don't know where he is." I said but my words fell on deaf ears.

"You're lying!" They yelled at me.

"Need help?" Whispered a familiar voice in my ear.

"Nooj! Am I ever glad to see you." I said in relief.

"Listen to me! We are doing everything we can to find Baralai but you must be patient. He will be found." Nooj said trying to calm the growing crowd down.

"She's keeping him from us!" Somebody in the back.

"She is just as ignorant as you as to where he is. Please just let us get through."

They seemed reluctant to let us pass but they did so anyway. Even if New Yevon and the Youth League were on good terms at the present moment nobody wanted to create unnecessary tension. As I passed through the crowd next to Nooj I got a lot of glares from people. I wanted to laugh but I wanted to live more.

"Why are they crying out for my blood?" I asked Nooj once we had left the crowd behind.

"They honestly believe that you know something and they are getting desperate." He said as he turned around and faced me.

"If I knew something I wouldn't be here. Speaking of which, why are you here?" I said.

"The same reason why you're here. I'm looking for answers." He said as he turned around again and kept walking. Eventually we reached New Yevon headquarters.

"Why is it empty?" I asked seeing the lack of people at headquarters.

"Everyone's out looking for Baralai." He said looking through some papers that were on a desk.

"Figures." I said as I watched him look for something that might be helpful.

"I thought you were here to look for some answers." He said when he noticed that I wasn't doing anything.

"I was but I was just planning on asking people if they knew anything." I said as I kept looking around the empty room.

"They are not particularly friendly right now so you might have to rethink your methods." He said finally giving up on the papers.

"I noticed. Did you find anything?"

"Nothing important. I'm still curious though." He said as he started to head towards the exit.

"About what?" I said as I followed him.

"There is nothing in his papers to suggest that he wanted to leave, and yet he suddenly disappears."

"There's something we're missing." I confirmed. He nodded. My heart sank because even though I knew that something wasn't right I was hoping that I was wrong.

"You need to find him." Nooj said as we finally reached the outskirts of Bevelle.

"Me? Why me?"

"I have my own faction to run, besides there is no one more fitting."

"…"

"Think of it this way. If you save him then he would owe you."

I laughed. Hard. He still hadn't paid me back for when the Gullwings got Shuyin out of his body. Or for anything else for that matter. Now that I think up on it he owed me a lot of things.

"That was good. I had no idea you had a sense of humor." I said still laughing.

"It wasn't a joke. But in all seriousness, he needs you. Go get him."

I sighed and nodded. It wasn't an easy task to put on my shoulders and judging by the welcome that I received here in Bevelle it wasn't getting any easier. I thanked Nooj for saving me earlier and watched him as he walked towards Bikanel, most likely going to talk to Gippal. As he walked away it hit me that for somebody with mechanical leg he walks a lot. I shook off my wandering thoughts and headed back to the Celsius

"Did you find out anything?" Yuna asked when I got to the bridge.

"Nothing that I didn't already know. Sorry for dragging you out here."

"That's ok. You could use the help."

"Yeah, they like animals down there." Rikku said.

"That is an understatement." I said. They looked at me curiously but I didn't feel like explaining myself so I walked out instead. I had a hard task ahead of me and I needed to think.


	4. Voices

**A/N: **Class has made a little difficult for me to update so forgive me but once the semester ends (which is real soon, yay!) I will be updating more regularly. Please review, don't make me beg.

**Disclaimer: **I state yet again that I do not own FFX-2.

I was completely lost in thought, so lost in fact that I hadn't realized that I had started to pace back and forth.

What was he thinking giving me the job of finding Baralai? I'm a sphere hunter not a person hunter. I don't even know where to start looking. Spira is a big place and he could be anywhere. I could be looking for years and still not find him.

I shook that last thought out of my head almost immediately after I thought of it. I am going to find him and I won't have to go through that pain again. And I'm going to do it alone, there is no point in me dragging Yuna and Rikku around. They are happy as they are and there is no need for me to change that.

"Paine?" The voice knocked me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see Yuna standing in the doorway.

"What?" The question came out a lot harsher than I had meant to. That did nothing to take away the smile that she had.

"We are landing in Besaid soon. Are you going to stay with us?" She asked still smiling.

I considered that for a few seconds and then nodded. It was probably a good idea for me to get some rest and stock up before I went anywhere.

"Ok." Was the only thing she said before leaving again and she was still smiling. She smiled too much.

I followed Yuna out to the bridge and then out to the island. Maybe the fresh air will help me think of a better battle plan.

**********

I should have known that sleep wasn't going to come easy for me. It never really did so it shouldn't have surprised me that I wasn't getting any now.

"What are you doing out here so late?" I heard suddenly and jumped. I looked around and didn't see anybody.

"I'm hearing voices now?" I whispered myself.

"No. Just mine." Said the voice that sounded too much like Baralai.

"I need to get some sleep." I said shaking my head. When you start hearing voices that's when know that you need to get some rest.

"You should. I'm counting on you." Said the not really there Baralai that was in my head.

Way to put on the stress. Even as a figment of my imagination he was counting on me. I was exhausted and I hadn't even started looking yet. Laying down on the bed and letting my thoughts wander again I didn't realize when I drifted off to sleep.

**********

"You're leaving us?" Rikku half asked half whined.

"I'll be back. I have something I have to do right now." I said. It did have something to do so I wasn't technically lying.

"Where are you headed?" Yuna asked.

"Moonflow." I said. It was the first thing that came to mind and that was a lie. I didn't really know where I was going exactly but I should get an idea once I was on the road.

"Why would you want to go there?" Tidus asked.

"Like I said I have something to do." I said walking away before they started to ask more questions.

"Wait! Don't go!" Rikku yelped as she started to come after me.

"I'm sorry Rikku but this is something that I have to do alone." I said as I kept on walking not bothering to turn around.

"Sorry but we're coming with you." She said catching up to me. I turned around and saw Yuna and Tidus coming after me too. This was turning to be more difficult than I wanted it to.

**********

I'm finally done with this chapter. I'm giving credit to the band Lostprophets for giving me the inspiration.


	5. Eavesdropping

**A/N:** Yay for chapter five. Sorry about the wait but finals week is murder but I'm finally free. Anyway, read, review, negative or positive, either one helps. I'm literally begging you, please review!

**Disclaimer:** I'm running out of ways to say it but yet again FFX-2 does not belong to me, it belongs to Square, Squaresoft, Square Enix, or whatever they call themselves these days.

**********

"I'm hungry. And tired." Rikku complained.

"You're the one who wanted to follow me so stop complaining." I said truly annoyed.

"We weren't going to just let you come by yourself. Right Yunie?" Rikku said grabbing her cousin's arm.

"Right. We're a team." Yuna said with a big smile. I gritted my teeth to keep myself from saying something that I probably shouldn't.

"Fine, we'll stay here for tonight." I said sitting down on a nearby rock.

We had been on the road for a week and the only that we have found are a few of dead ends and a whole lot of rabid New Yevon fans, the likes of which were getting more dangerous by the day. Add to that Golden Boy and Hyper Twins and my already thin patience was starting to disappear.

"_Go easy on them. They are only trying to help._" The Baralai in my head said. To be honest, if hearing his voice didn't give me some hope of finding him, it would start getting annoying too. It's not like he ever said anything to help me. I willed the voice to go away.

"Paine? Are you ok?" Yuna asked. I let out a sigh and stood up from the rock.

"Yeah. I'm going to take a walk."

"Ok. We'll set up camp."

I nodded as a response and started walking towards the trees. I was actually quite tired but I needed some personal space. I walked through the trees for a bit and was about to sit down on a fallen trunk when I heard two men talking in the dark. I hid behind a couple of trees so they couldn't see me but that meant that I couldn't see them either.

"What do you mean he's gone?! You said your men had him covered!"

"They underestimated him. He is surprisingly strong."

"I don't care about that! Find him!"

"And what do we do with the good praetor then?"

"Move ahead of schedule."

"Meaning?"

"Kill him."

I can honestly say that my insides dropped well beyond my feet. I stifled a gasp and stood as still as a statue as the two men walked passed me. They want to kill Baralai? Why? What is going on?

I walked back to camp in a daze. Did I hear that conversation correctly? Am I dreaming?

"_Now you understand."_

_No. I don't._

I was almost at the camp when I suddenly stopped. I realized that this was much more serious than I had thought and I didn't want to put Yuna and Rikku through it, they don't deserve it.

"_Go to them. You need them." _

No. I need to find you first.

"_Go!"_

Fine. I'll go.

I finished walking to the camp and found Yuna, Rikku, and Tidus sleeping. I lay down too but I didn't fall asleep. My brain was working way too hard for it to go to sleep. None of this made any sense. Why would they want to kill Baralai? I didn't have an answer but I was really glad that he had escaped. That meant that he was still alive.

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Another short chapter but I put in plenty of information to make it worth it. I hope.


	6. Bad Dream

A/N: Not as speedy of an update as I was hoping for but a lot faster than my last chapter. Anyway, you know the drill please review, you have no idea how helpful they are, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I really need to find new ways to say this but I do not own Final Fantasy X-2. I'm just borrowing.

**********

I had no idea where I was headed or what was waiting for me ahead but I kept on running all the same. I was running as if somebody's life depended on it and at that moment somebody's did depend on me, Baralai's.

I wasn't even sure of where I was, I just concentrated on turning corners, staying away from dead ends, and making sure that the men following me did not catch me.

I hid in a small crevice so that I could catch my breath. I didn't know how much longer I could keep this up but no matter how far I had to push myself I was going to find Baralai and I was going to save him.

I was about to start running again when I noticed a ladder to my left. It seemed to lead deeper into the maze that I had found myself in but I didn't have time to weigh the pros and cons. I took hold of the ladder and started climbing down.

The visibility down here was worse than it had been above but my eyes adjusted quickly enough for me to notice that I was in some type of dungeon. Squinting my eyes I noticed a little flicker of light further ahead and I ran towards it. When I reached it I noticed that the light was coming from a slightly open door. I opened the door to a large, barren underground chamber. Inside the chamber was Baralai fighting three men, all considerably bigger than him.

I was ready to rush in and help him but a pair of thick heavy arms grabbed me and stopped me from going anywhere.

"Don't go yet. The fun is only beginning." He said in a thick, heavy voice as he covered my mouth.

I was at a loss of what to do. It was only a matter of time before Baralai lost and the giant was holding me so tight that I could feel my ribs starting to crack. A miracle, that all I was asking for, one small miracle. Of course I was never one to be that lucky.

I winced when one of the men hit Baralai on the head with the broad side of his sword. That knocked him off balance long enough for one of the others to grab him from behind. I watched in horror as the third man stabbed him through the chest with a small dagger.

At that point I started to fight against the giant until I heard and felt a couple of my ribs and one of my arms break. Even with his hand still covering my mouth I gave an audible cry of pain.

"Come now, he put up a good fight." He said as tears started to fall down my face.

Come on Baralai, get up. You can't be dead. I know you're not dead. I refused to believe that he was dead. He just couldn't be dead. Get up. Get up!

"GET UP!" I yelled as I bolted upright in my sleeping bag. I looked around and saw Rikku, Yuna, and Tidus staring at me, eyes wide with concern.

"Paine, what's wrong?" Rikku asked as she hurried to get me something to drink.

"Nothing. It was just dream." I said laying back down and getting my breathing under control. I pressed my palms to my eyes to stop myself from crying.

Was it really a dream? It had all seemed so real. I could almost feel the pain in my sides where my ribs broke and I could certainly feel the despair I felt when they had stabbed Baralai.

"That was no dream. That was some horrible nightmare." Tidus said sitting back down in his own sleeping bag.

"The point is that it wasn't real. You don't have to worry about me." I said taking the water that Rikku had offered me, gulping it down. I hadn't realized how dry my throat had gotten.

"We still worry about you, even if we do not have to." Yuna said still looking extremely concerned. Rikku nodded furiously in agreement as she gave me another drink of water, which I drank just as quickly as the first.

"I'm fine, really. Just go back to sleep." I said as I concentrated hard to stop my shaking.

Was I really alright? I doubted it. Dream or not it had a major shock to my system and it was going to take me some time to fully control myself. I certainly wasn't going to be able to sleep for the rest of the night, or any of the following nights for that matter.

"If you need to talk about anything, we're here for you." Rikku said as she handed me one more drink and crawled back into her sleeping bag. Yuna gave me a small smile and went back to sleep too.

Not long after I heard their steady breathing as they drifted off to sleep again. I got up, packed my stuff, and exited the tent as silently as I could into the cold night air.

Forget what the voice in my head had told me; there was no way that I was going to put Yuna and Rikku through this whole mess. They deserved the bliss of being ignorant.

"I'm sorry guys." I whispered as I walked off to find Baralai on my own as I had originally intended. The less people that I cared about in danger the better.

Even if it had been just a dream I'll admit that it had given me some insight. It made me realized that I knew Baralai well enough to know where he had hidden himself. He was hiding in plain sight in the last place where place where people would think to look and quite honestly the last place where he should be. If there was one thing that I was sure of at that moment it was that Baralai was in Bevelle.

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Sorry if I freaked you guys out with the "killing" of Baralai. I just thought the dream sequence would be fitting for Paine's character. Not only that but I made this chapter much longer to make up for the previous short one.


	7. A Friendly Face in a Black Hole

**A/N: **Sorry about the wait people but with my family invading my house for the holidays I haven't had a chance to update. Happy New Year and enjoy the new chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I think I've said it enough times that I can skip it from now on.

**********

I felt miserable and I probably looked worse than what I felt. In the three weeks since I left Yuna and Rikku behind I had been almost killed twice by rabid Yevonites, almost got all of my possessions stolen by bandits, and lost so much sleep that I am certain it's unhealthy.

And so here I stood a few feet outside of Bevelle, in the middle of the night, trying to think of the best way to get underneath it while avoiding the mob that was bound to form when they saw me. Sure, no problem.

I was seriously considering taking out my sword, barging in, and fighting with anybody who got in my way when I remembered something that Baralai showed me once.

"_Why did you bring me out here?" I asked as Baralai knelt down suddenly._

"_I want to show you something." He said with smile that almost made my knees give way._

_He pushed away some brush and uncovered a grilled cover. _

"_Old tunnels." He said answering the question that I was just about to ask. "Part of the old structure. It goes all the way down to the dungeons." He said as he removed the cover and stood up._

"_How many people know about this?" I asked getting closer to get a better look._

"_At the present moment, just you and me. Think of it as our secret." He said as he suddenly jumped into the hole._

The jumping into the hole had caught me by surprise and at that moment I wasn't sure if I wanted to jump after him or not even though I did end up jumping in. At the present moment jumping into a dark hole seemed a lot more reasonable then fighting a whole bunch of people and a lot faster too. Dark hole it is then.

I found the tunnel quite easily even though it was pitch dark outside. Maybe the rabid Yevonites are right, maybe I do know all of Baralai's secrets, I thought before jumping into the hole. I highly doubt that.

It was even darker in here than it was outside but I remembered my way, sort of. I kept my hand on the wall, following it and taking the correct turns. Or at least what I hoped where the correct turns.

At last I saw some light up ahead but I stopped dead in my track when I noticed that it looked exactly how it had in my dream. I wanted to go towards the light but I was too afraid of what I might see to move.

When I heard somebody come up behind me I was on the verge of panic. When somebody grabbed me from behind I freaked out. I wanted to scream but my captor had covered my mouth. I started fighting against his hold but he held me tight.

"Paine! Paine stop, it's me." He whispered in my ear. With all my fighting it took me a little while to recognize the voice. Baralai? Was it really him? He let me go once he was sure that I had stopped fighting and I turned around immediately. Even in the dim light the face and white hair was unmistakable.

So many emotions were running through my head that my first immediate reaction what to hit him hard on the shoulder.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through because of you?!" I said still hitting him.

"I truly am sorry but I couldn't risk your safety." He said grabbing my arms to stop me from hitting him anymore.

"I risk my safety on a daily basis." I said trying to pull my arms away.

"Not on my account. Please stop trying to hit me." He said still holding on to my arms.

"I'm sorry but either you allow me to hit you or my head will explode." I said. He looked a little confused by my statement and I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"It's hard to explain." I said feeling tears come to my eyes. "I'm just really happy you're ok." I said as I fought back my tears. I refused to cry in front of him.

"So your happiness is being translated to hostility?" He asked still a little wary of letting go of my arms.

"Sort of." I said taking a good look at his face finally. He looked just as bad as I did.

"You look like you haven't slept in days." He said before I had the chance to say the very same thing.

_Yeah well when you accidently hear a couple of men planning to kill somebody that you really care about you're bound to lose some sleep. _I had almost said that out loud but I thought better of it and kept my mouth shut.

"You don't look that much better." I said instead. He dropped both my arms and his gaze but he didn't say anything.

"I always had a feeling it was going to be you who would find me first." He said suddenly looking up again.

"Why is that?" I said smiling.

"You know all of my secrets." He smiled that smile of his that always made my heart skip a couple of beats.

"Come on. I think it would be best if we finished talking inside one of the rooms." He said as he led me towards the light. I didn't say anything just choosing to smile instead.

**********

Wow. This ended up being a lot longer than I had originally thought up but that's a good thing, I hope. Hope you guys liked it and really hope you review. And if either Baralai or Paine seemed out of character please let me know.


	8. Shrub or Bush?

**A/N: **So after weeks of trying I managed to win my fight against writer's block and put this down on paper (while I was supposed to be paying attention to my lecture :P) sorry if it's sucky. And thanks to **TurboTwistedFire** for pointing out my grammatical errors. I will fix them as soon as possible.

**********

After finally getting a decent amount of rest and food, which we were both in serious need, me and Baralai came up with a plan. Well I came up with a plan, and not a very good one at that. That meant that now we were hiding out in a shrub just outside of Mt. Gagazet in the middle of the night.

"Why are we hiding out in a shrub?" I asked quietly just in case anybody was near.

"I should be asking you since it was your idea after all; and technically it's a bush." He said in an equally quiet yet more amused voice.

"Bush, shrub; they're the same thing." I said rolling my eyes.

"Actually bushes are denser than shrubs and can also refer to a group of bushes." He said and I'm pretty sure it was to annoy me.

"I should have known that this was about politics." I said not wanting to continue our little argument about plants.

"With me it normally is. I'm the leader of one of the most important groups in Spira; if they do manage to capture and kill me and successfully blame the Youth League New Yevon will no doubt retaliate. This will give them the opportunity that they need to rise up and take over." He said which made me give him a very serious look. "What?" He asked when he saw the expression on my face.

"Nobody is going to kill you and I feel sorry for the poor fools who even bothered to try." I responded with a little fierceness in my voice.

"Actually I feel sorry for them too. What they are planning to do to me is nothing compared to what you can do to them." He said with a small smirk and I punched him on the shoulder. I gave my own little smirk when I saw him wince.

"Who uses Mt. Gagazet as a base?" I asked as I started to get cold.

"They have members from all factions. They need a place that is not only neutral but can also keep them hidden." He said. It seemed as if he was going to say something else but I stopped him when I heard voices coming closer towards us; voices that I recognized.

"I'm tired of your excuses Kanor. You've been searching for almost a month." Hearing that voice again took me back to that night on the Mi'ihen Highroad when the very same voice that is only a few feet away from me ordered to kill Baralai. I started to rise so I could go up to them and start fighting but Baralai shot me a warning glance so I opted for following them instead.

"I'm well aware of that fact Braydin but our young praetor is a very astute person. Apparently so is his girlfriend." The other man, Kanor, answered which left me a bit uncomfortable.

"You can't find the girl either?" The guy seemingly named Braydin asked.

"No. Last time we where aware of her whereabouts she was on the Mi'ihen Highroad with her friends, the Gullwings, but she suddenly disappeared." Baralai shot me a disapproving look when he heard this.

"Do her friends know where she went?"

"No. They are just as clueless as we are."

"Find them both, kill them both." Was the last thing Braydin said before they entered Mt. Gagazet. They shrunk a little under the weight of the Ronso staring at them with obvious disapproval when they entered but that still did not stop them from going further up the mountain. Once out of sight me and Baralai approached Khimari who looked at us with a raised eyebrow.

"Not safe for you on mountain." He said to us.

"We know but we can't sit around and do nothing. It's not only about our lives but also about the wellbeing of the people of Spira." Baralai said while Khimari looked down at him.

"Fight with you we cannot." Khimari said crossing his arms in his usual way.

"We do not ask for your help we just want your permission to be on your mountain." Baralai, ever the diplomat, said. New Yevon praetor definitely suits him.

"Get men off of mountain." Khimari responded before he walked away which I took as him giving us permission. Now that I think about it confronting this group didn't seem like a very good idea. Like Baralai said they had members from all the factions in Spira maybe even some of the younger Ronso. Add to that the fact that we are on the top of their hit list and the odds did not look good.

"So what's the plan?" I asked Baralai.

"You tell me. It was your idea to come up here; surely you have to have some type of plan." He said which made me laugh a little.

"I'm a fighter Baralai, not a planner."

"Right. We should get out of here before they find us." He said but before either of us could take a step a blonde blur crashed into me which caused the brown and other blonde blur that were following the first blonde blur to crash into both of us which in turn cause me to crash into Baralai. The point is that now Baralai, me, Rikku, Yuna, and Tidus, in that order, were on a heap on the ground.

"Painey! How dare you leave us like that?!" Rikku yelled, right in my face mind you.

"Rikku not so loud please. Do you want them to find us here?" Baralai said as he wiggled himself out of the pile.

"And kill us." I added as I tried and failed to follow Baralai suit. The three faces above me shared the same looks of confusion, surprise, and alarm. "If you three get off of me we could explain." I said trying to push them off of me.

"Preferably outside of Mt. Gagazet." Baralai added as he helped me up from the snow covered ground. Yuna, Rikku, and Tidus nodded.

"Great, back to the shrub." I said which earned me a confused look from Tidus.

"It's a bush." Baralai corrected me again.

"Whatever. It's a plant." I said as I started to walk down the mountain. We were not having this discussion again.

**********

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; you mean to tell me that their plan is to kill you so that they can become rulers of Spira?" Tidus asked growing more confused by the minute. Me and Baralai nodded.

"How does that work?" Rikku asked.

"The leader of this group is a member of New Yevon. If they do manage to kill me my death will go public. He will blame the Youth League of which his partner is a member of. Once they get the fighting started they can come up claim to be looking for peace and Spira would most likely believe them." Baralai explained.

"Taking full advantage of the moment of weakness." I said stretching my arms. We had been sitting ground for a while and now it was starting to get dark.

"We can't let them do this to you guys." Rikku said giving me a rib crushing hug. Why did I sit next to her again?

"We can't take them on head first either. There are many of them and five of us." Baralai said. He had a point but there was no way that was going to stop Yuna.

"We defeated both Sin and Vegnagun; we are not going to let a bunch of bullies get away with this." Yuna said before getting up and marching up back towards the mountain. When I'm right I'm right.


End file.
